Is Playing Chess Online for Cash Considered Gambling?

With so many online casinos out there and so many gambling options, why stick only to slots and traditional casino games? If you’ve never gambled online before but would like to give it a try, Quasar promo code bonus enables new customers to try out some excellent games with bonus money. However, if you are an experienced gambler, you might find yourself wanting to try something different. Do you excel in chess? Than playing chess online for money could seem very attractive, combining the thrill of gambling with the intellectual challenge of playing chess.

However, even if you generally do not like gambling, you might be reasonably attracted to online chess tournaments with monetary prizes. They seem to be a great way for a talented chess player to earn some extra cash on the side and have fun while doing it. In case your dilemma is whether this kind of competition would be considered gambling, the short answer is: no, playing chess for money, online as well as offline, is not considered gambling, because chess is a game of skill, not the game of luck.

However, it is not always easy to draw the line between gambling and competing for cash prizes. Poker is a case in point. Although it is officially considered gambling because of the element of chance involved in playing all card games, it is often stressed that poker is much more similar to other games of skill.

According to the 2005 Gambling Act, gambling is legally defined in the UK as (a)gaming (b)betting, and (c) participating in a lottery. Gaming is defined as playing a game of chance for a prize, whereas sports are excluded from games of chance. Since chess is a sport and does not include chance, chess is not gaming and it is obviously not a lottery. The only remaining option to eliminate is that chess could be considered betting. This is a bit trickier. Betting on the outcome of a chess game if you are not one of the participants is considered gambling. However, if you are one of the participants of the game, are betting on yourself to win, that is not considered gambling, because that would make virtually any sports competition where people pay the entrance fee to compete for a monetary prize a case of betting.

With that settled, there are other things to consider. Many websites offer the option to play chess for cash online, but the problem is that in an online game it is very easy to cheat. Namely, there are computer programmes such as Chess Master that have a very advanced AI for playing chess. In an online game, your opponent could easily feed all your moves to one of these programmes and the computer would give the best moves to them.

That is why it is best to play chess for money face to face. There are plenty of public spaces where you can play: parks, cafes or your local chess club. Good luck!